Are you considering changing your WordPress theme? A new theme can give your website a much-needed refresh, but it‘s crucial to prepare carefully before making the switch. Failing to take the proper precautions could result in broken functionality, lost content, poor performance, and even downtime for your site.
As a WordPress expert who has overseen many theme migrations, I‘ve put together this comprehensive checklist of 15 essential steps you must take before changing your WordPress theme. Follow this guide closely to ensure a smooth transition and avoid potential disasters.
- Fully back up your WordPress site
Before making any significant changes to your site, always start by doing a complete backup. This should include your entire WordPress database as well as all your themes, plugins, and uploads.
Don‘t simply rely on your web host‘s automatic backups. I recommend using a WordPress backup plugin like UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy to create a full downloadable backup that you can store safely off-site. This will be your safety net in case anything goes wrong.
- Document and save any custom code
Have you made any modifications to your theme‘s code, such as adding snippets to your functions.php file or editing your theme templates directly? If so, you‘ll need to carefully document these changes so you can re-implement them in your new theme.
I suggest copying any custom code into a separate text file along with notes on what it does and where it needs to be added. This is also a good opportunity to consider whether those customizations are still needed or if there is a plugin alternative that would be easier to maintain.
- Set up a staging site for testing
Before deploying a new theme on your live site, it‘s always best to thoroughly test it in a safe development environment. Most web hosting companies now offer easy tools to spin up a staging site.
Use a plugin like WP Staging or Duplicator to clone your live site to staging. Then you can activate your new theme and spot any issues before impacting your real visitors. Test all key pages, links and functionality.
- Check WordPress and plugin compatibility
Make sure your desired theme supports the latest version of WordPress. Check the theme‘s documentation or reach out to the developer if you‘re unsure.
You‘ll also want to verify that your new theme is compatible with all the plugins you rely on, especially major ones like your page builder, forms, SEO, ecommerce, and membership plugins. Temporarily deactivate any non-essential plugins during testing to isolate issues.
- Optimize your images
High-resolution images can make your site look great but also bog down its performance. Optimize all the images used in your new theme to ensure fast loading times.
Use an image compression plugin like ShortPixel or Smush to reduce file sizes without compromising quality. Also make sure to specify image dimensions in the code so browsers can allocate the proper space while loading.
- Prepare for URL changes
If your new theme will result in changes to your permalink structure, create 301 redirects from your old post and page URLs to the new ones. This will ensure visitors and search engines can find your content at the expected locations.
Redirection is a great free plugin for managing redirects in WordPress. Ideally have redirects in place before launching the new theme to avoid 404 errors.
- Customize your new theme
Most WordPress themes provide options for adding your logo, customizing your fonts and colors, and more. Take advantage of the theme customizer and other settings to make your new theme match your unique branding.
Consider creating a child theme for any more involved code customizations. That way your changes won‘t be overridden if you update the parent theme in the future.
- Evaluate performance
Website speed has a major impact on user experience and SEO. Before going live, use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix or WebPageTest to assess your new theme‘s performance.
Look for opportunities to reduce page size, optimize CSS/JavaScript, leverage browser caching, etc. Don‘t forget to test on mobile devices as well. A slow-loading site can undo all the hard work you put into your new theme.
- Test, test and test again
In addition to speed, you‘ll want to thoroughly test your new theme‘s functionality and appearance on a variety of devices and browsers. Prioritize the browsers and screen sizes your analytics data shows are most popular with your audience.
Enlist friends and colleagues to click through your staging site and provide feedback. Consider using a cross-browser testing tool like BrowserStack or CrossBrowserTesting to automate the process.
- Handle custom content with care
If your site uses custom post types, fields or shortcodes, take extra care to ensure these elements carry over to your new theme correctly. You may need to work with your theme developer to create new templates that support your custom content.
Similarly, if your old theme used a page builder like Elementor or Beaver Builder, verify that your layouts still work as intended in the new theme. It may be wise to rebuild key pages from scratch for maximum compatibility.
- Configure analytics and tools
Verify that your Google Analytics tracking code is present in your new theme. You may need to update your Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools accounts if your sitemap location has changed.
Re-submit your sitemap once the new site is launched to help search engines re-crawl your content. Also check for any other third-party scripts that need to be carried over like Facebook pixels, heatmaps, A/B testing tools, etc.
- Activate maintenance mode
Once you‘re ready to launch, put your site into maintenance mode while you deploy the changes. This lets visitors know the site is undergoing updates and will return shortly.
I like the WP Maintenance Mode plugin which lets you create a custom page that displays to users while you‘re working behind the scenes. Make sure to deactivate this once the new site is live.
- Double check as a regular user
Before opening the floodgates, preview your new site as a logged-out user one more time. Look for any strange formatting, placeholder text, missing images, 404 errors, etc.
Clear your browser cache or open the site in an incognito window to mimic a first-time visitor‘s experience. Ask a friend to double check on their devices as well – a fresh set of eyes often spots issues you may have missed.
- Monitor traffic and performance
Once launched, keep a close eye on your website analytics to make sure traffic and user behavior are normal. Watch your bounce rate, time on site, and conversion rates to gauge how users are responding to the new theme.
Also monitor site speed and error logs to catch any performance issues or bugs that need fixing. I recommend setting up uptime monitoring with a service like Pingdom or Updown.io for extra peace of mind.
- Have a rollback plan
Even with all this preparation, issues can arise once a new theme is deployed on a live site. Have a plan in place to quickly revert to your old theme if needed.
The easiest way to do this is to keep a full backup of your site right before launching the new theme. That way you can quickly restore it while you investigate and fix problems with the new setup. Communicate with your visitors if you do need to temporarily revert.
By following these 15 steps, you‘ll be well on your way to a successful WordPress theme migration. The key is to take your time, test thoroughly, and have contingency plans in place.
While it may seem daunting, the end result of a shiny new website that‘s faster, better looking, and more functional for your visitors makes it all worth it. So backup, test, optimize and enjoy your new WordPress theme!
Still have questions about changing your WordPress theme? Leave a comment below or reach out to our team of experts. We‘re happy to provide guidance for your specific situation.
Looking to make your new WordPress site even better? Check out our roundups of the best WordPress plugins and best WordPress hosting providers for some great tools and services to take your site to the next level.
